Reeling from a series of attacks that have led to the perception of weakness and inability to provide security, the Turkish government now appears to be in the midst of a military coup.
Witnesses have reported gunfire and sightings of helicopters over the capital city, Ankara and the prime minister has confirmed a coup is underway.
Soldiers have also blocked the two major bridges across the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul, according to media reports.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told NTV television: "it is correct that there was an attempt."
Yildirim said his government would "not allow" the military to take over, but no one has heard yet from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
TV reports said Turkish military tanks were deployed outside Ataturk airport in Istanbul, and the military was already saying by 5:00pm EST that it had taken power.
The military has reportedly also said that all existing foreign relations would continue and that the rule of law would resume as usual.
By James Burgess of Oilprice.com
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Turkey's military has a long reputation for supporting a secular state while President Erdogon has increasingly supported a religious state. Some suspect that Erdogon partnered with ISIS in allowing jihadist recruits to cross from Turkey into Syria and Iraq. He is also suspected of making enormous wealth from ISIS pirated oil that is secretly allowed to cross his border and sold in Europe, with his son supposedly heading up the Turkish company that makes the oil deal. The shooting down of a Russian bomber was believed by many as retaliation against Russian bombers destroying the pirated oil convoys. Most recently, he has been seeking accomodations to lower tensions with Russia, as the Russians have seemed to stabilize the Syrian government position in the war. That would also mean that he's accepted the fact that the Syrian President is likely to remain in power, a position the West seems also on the verge of accepting. Too late to avoid the coup, Erdogon has finally realized that the main threat to Turkey is from ISIS, not from Russia. If Kerry's meeting this week with Putin is any indication, it seems that the US is also reluctantly coming to the same conclusion.